You could learn to read kana and go here for a good start:
Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar (actually he has kana charts on there too)
Luckily you don't need classes to learn any language, so even if you don't get on a Japanese course it won't matter, although obviously they are a great starting point for those who don't know what to do, but I've not taken a single class and am managing just fine.
To learn vocab, just read, whether it be manga or novels it doesn't matter.
If you apply a bit of common sense you can learn from anything, without sounding like a samurai/anime char etc.
I've also heard for reading and vocab the books "Kanji in context" and "kanji odyssey" are good if you can afford them.